Not verifying information

On being asked to record identifying information yourself, or asking someone else to, without verification, for security purposes...

For example, being asked to write your own driver's license number on a check you're writing, without the cashier asking to actually see your license. You've probably had this happen to you, if you've ever ordered a pizza, or written a check at a store.

Note, however, that if you, as a business person, ask your customer to record their own information without verifying it yourself, you allow them to knowingly (and easily) give you completely false data. So, if someone is actually trying to actively defraud you, this may be an ineffective security proceedure.

I have three theories as to what causes people to implement this policy:

Clerks are required by policy to ask for identifying information, but are embarassed to actually ask, for example, to see the bearer's driver's license, so instead they just ask them to write down the number. They don't care if it's fraudulent or not, as long as their supervisor sees a number. I noticed coworkers doing this while I worked at RadioShack, for this reason. This seems to be the most likely beginning of the idea.

People became used to being asked to record their own information because of the previous reason, and then assumed that it was an effective policy because other people were doing it. I consider this to be the most likely reason of all for this practice to be so widespread.